What is the ruling on playing permissible games such as dominoes and chess when one is unable to engage in leisure activities like horseback riding, swimming, or horsemanship?
Dominoes and chess, if played for a wager, are forbidden (). If chess is played without a wager, scholars have differed regarding its ruling, oscillating between disapproval (karahah) and prohibition (tahrim). As for dominoes, contemporary scholars have differed regarding its ruling: some have permitted it as long as it is not accompanied by something forbidden or does not distract from acts of worship, while others have prohibited it due to the predominance of luck and speculation involved, which makes it akin to the forbidden dice. By analogy, everything that relies on intellect and calculation is not forbidden, whereas everything that relies on speculation is forbidden. The more preponderant view is the permissibility of dominoes due to the apparent aspect of intelligence and skill involved, provided that the -compliant guidelines are adhered to.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/188423
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 188423
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy